Discussion

One RCT (n=7) assessed the effect of topical anaesthetic and placebo creams applied to the skin area over the quadriceps muscle 1 hour prior to FES on two different days (Matthews et al. 1997). As cardiovascular and AD responses during FES were unaffected by topical anaesthetic cream application at the stimulation site, the authors suggested that mechanisms other than skin nociception contributed to FES-induced AD.

Conclusion

There is level 1 evidence (from one RCT) (Matthews et al. 1997) supporting no effect of topical anesthetic for the prevention of AD during FES.

Topical anesthetic is not effective for the prevention of AD during FES.